Aug 1, 2004 12:00 PM, BY ROB LAWSON

Mobile is a highly versatile new brand loyalty tool that creates opportunities for many things: to provide a more personal and timely service to customers; to maximize customer spend/wallet share; to minimize customer attrition; and to save costs in other areas such as direct mail and customer service. Getting it right and building real brand loyalty is all about knowing your customer well.

At the heart of effective mobile campaigns are good data management and analysis…not to mention common sense. Always ask yourself ‘Is this messaging my audience will be happy to receive?’ Mobile is such an influential medium that it is just as important to know the reaction of those that do not respond as it is those that do. The following is a basic guide to the steps companies should take when implementing a mobile strategy:

Assessment

Given your brand objectives, make a preliminary assessment of what unique benefits the mobile channel can deliver: Provide time-sensitive alerts? Supply account updates or delivery status? Give customer tips or reminders? Deliver rewarding personal content or offers? Involve in product promotions or competitions? Provide timely up selling or cross selling to related products/services? Send personally helpful information such as registration details, contact numbers, etc. for future use? Support call center activities?

Data audit

Conduct an audit of existing customer data for mobile numbers, permissions/privacy status and the most recent contact; mobile is an opt-in medium. Review and determine where this permission will be obtained and how the data will be collected.

Customer acquisition

Consider deployment of text response in each of the media channels you use — TV, radio, press, billboards, Web, customer call center, packaging/POS and print collateral…as well as mobile — to collect/build data. Five digit short codes that are easy and quick for consumers to use are now available. Plan so that response mechanisms, data collection, tracking and opt-in/opt-outs will be effectively actioned. Host at a secure data center. You will probably need a specialty mobile marketing partner with demonstrable experience and strong technology, as there are many start-ups in this area with limited capabilities.

Data analysis and profiling

Calculate the key variables for determining consumer profiles and their value, such as the net worth of each customer, propensity to respond to promotions or level of loyalty. Identify customer segments best suited to conversion to new behavior, such as those of highest potential net value or at most danger of churn, and use online tools to model data and analyze. Overlay the database with external lifestyle data such as Mosaic, Prizm, Acorn or TGI to enrich understanding and inform message development. Consider how much help you want from your potential mobile partner in this area and review accordingly.

Campaign strategies

Identify where the key customer value/company profit opportunities lie and develop near term sales or cost-saving targets. Decide on strategies: e.g. target high value customers one month before contract end. Or send two for the price of one offers to low frequency purchasers. Or offer discounted car hire (with number to call) to business travelers on eve of departure. Brief your mobile partner on objectives and targets and plan how results will be assessed.

Test

Mobile offers companies the ability to measure many things, from how many people opened a message, to how many showed or forwarded it to a friend, whether they replied, or whether they deleted it or stored it for future referral/use. Follow up telephone surveys can also quantify consumers' spontaneous/prompted awareness, their propensity to buy what's offered, and whether they are more or less well disposed to your company following receipt of the message.

Your key measure is likely to be direct ROI from your customer doing what you had planned, but it is important to track these other metrics as you develop activity so that you can see how the relationship is developing. Consider using text itself as a research tool by asking customers to score on a 1-100 scale how warmly they feel about the brand on periodic basis and following key communications. Track these scores.

It is also worth testing ideas against small groups to see how they are received. Brand marketers should look both for strong positive responses that will drive viral recommendation and for net positive gains across the group researched.

Roll-out

Implement rules at campaign delivery engine. Feed responses back into the master dataset. Take learning and results to the next level, to refine both your mobile and other media planning and call center activities.

The golden rule is to monitor closely how the relationship is developing and always provide a simple, clear opt-out mechanism. Never forget that your customers may grow tired of being contacted through this medium.

Finally, always ask yourself the simple question: ‘Would I want this on my mobile?’ The best mobile CRM is timely, relevant and clearly helpful.

Rob Lawson is senior VP Americas at Enpocket, a mobile marketing solutions provider. He can be reached at rlawson@enpocket.com

25 ways mobile text messages can help build brand loyalty

To thank you for registering and give you a reference number

To say how much is in your account

To tell you when you are overdrawn

To remind you of your appointment

To give you a ticket: admit one

To give you your flight details

To say your flight is delayed

To confirm how many points you have collected

To give you the latest odds in the 2.30

To say our engineer will be there between nine and 10 am

To say when we'll call back

To remind you of the booking deadline

To tell you your order has arrived

To invite you to the preview

To say roadside assistance is on its way

To give you the phone number

To tell you the pollen count

To give you the share price

To give you the store details

To tell you the sale went through

To say you have won two tickets

To offer you an upgrade from 3* to 4*

To offer you car hire on arrival

To ask you to rate the service you received

To say ‘thank you’

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